Nelson Mandela, a name engraved in history, was a truly remarkable and inspirational man. Growing up poor in a small family, going to prison, to ending up as president of South Africa and helping the world end racism, Nelson Mandela was born on December 5th, 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa. According to The World Children’s Prize, after his dad died and his uncle wanted him to marry a village girl, he ran away to Johannesburg, the largest city in the country. He realized that people of color were treated very differently. He hated the idea of people getting treated differently because they were a different color than others; they had to go to separate bathrooms and they and colored people could not go into fancy places and were only allowed in run-down shops. They also were not allowed to drink from the same drinking fountain as white people. Wikipedia states that Mandela decided to study law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand during his adolescence. Mandela joined the ANC (African National Congress) so he could work to protect human rights and bring racial justice to South Africa.
Nelson Mandela’s life changed forever when he was imprisoned for conspiracy to overthrow the government and was sentenced to 27 years. Many people think that the police had tipped off Mandela’s location. He was sent to Robben Island, then moved to Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. According to Wikipedia, the time he spent in Robben Island was hard at first, sleeping on straw-made beds and it didn’t help that they were put in small cells. He was also constantly getting harassed by racist white prison wardens. However, the longer he stayed there, the more mistakes he saw and he ended up helping the other prisoners there. The inmates of Robben Island chose him, along with 2 others, to be a leader. During his time in prison, he used his knowledge of law to help improve the prison. He smuggled letters to support the anti-apartheid movement. At first, he was also rejected very much in Robben Island prison, but he learned languages and helped Robben Island better its conditions. Wikipedia also states that he was moved to Pollsmoor Prison to try and defuse the coregent Mandela was giving to the other prisoners. He ended up enjoying his transfer; he got along with the prison wardens who let him have a garden on the roof. A fun fact about Nelson Mandela is that he enjoyed the hobby of boxing. In his family, he was the first person to go to college and claimed that education is a ‘powerful weapon.’
After getting out of prison, he wanted to help change the world and end racism so he decided to run for president of South Africa. He won a Nobel prize after convincing President F.W. de Klerk to bring peace and end apartheid in South Africa, as well as fight for human rights around the world. He decided to start the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, which focuses on supporting and helping kids with disadvantages. While being president, he built many helpful buildings and helped countries make peace with one another. He was also co-founder of the first black legal partnership in South Africa. A fun fact about Nelson Mandela was that his birth name was Rolihlahla Mandela and it meant troublemaker. Nelson Mandela also has his own day on the 18 of July and people are asked to help people for 67 minutes after the number of years he fought for human rights.
After being president at 85 years, he chose not to run for that position again but decided to be an elder statesman and focus on helping fight against the HIV and AIDS virus which was plaguing the continent of Africa. After 67 years of serving in social justice and living a simple life with his wife, Graça Machel, he closed off his public life and did not want anything with the outside world but still maintained contact with close friends and family. After a long and productive life, he passed away in his home in Johannesburg at the age of 95, in 2013. Another fun fact is that he was also the first black president of South Africa, and more than 25 universities have been named after him.
Nelson Mandela was a very inspiring and respected man. He shows how he started very poor and went to prison and used the time there very wisely, then became the president of South Africa, he did not have much but he made it work with the little he had.
